Erin Holtz
Another wasteland eccentric, Erin is possibly one of the only interior decorators in the wasteland. Originally an accountant to a caravan company, she switched professions after being captured by raiders. Biography Erin was born to Nick and Sheila Holtz, employees of a small caravan in Klamath on October 5th, 2251. She would grow up with both in the caravan office, and would learn to read from the company ledger. Erin would also color in the margins of the book, causing her parents to buy a blank book to distract her. By nine she had a job cleaning up the office, and warehouse, and sometimes rearranged the furniture 'for better flow.' Her parents and employer chided her for this and made her move it back, but she wouldn't take it to heart. She would grow into a sunny, gregarious young woman and date several men around town, but never had any serious relationships. When she was eighteen she would ride north as a wagonhand to Northern Oregon, where her caravan was attacked by raiders. Erin was captured in the chaos and brought back to their camp, along with two other members of the caravan. All feared and expected horrible fates, but when Erin saw the ramshackle appearance of the camp, an idea struck her. She commented to the raider chief about the clutter, who initially dismissed her with an obscene joke about her fate. Erin pressed on however, and told him she could make their furniture store hideout into a comfortable and professional home. Amused, the chief allowed her to rearrange for the prisoners lives. She would start at the stack of mattresses the raiders had been sleeping on, dragging them to different locations and matching them with night-stands. Next she began gathering up sheets, and using a ladder, began hanging them around the old florescent fixtures to soften the light and add ambiance. Recruiting some of the now interested raiders, she directed them as they began driving bolts into the floors and mounting boards to them, making crude partitions out of them. Next she dragged old rugs and blankets to each room to add texture. Erin would rest at this point, when the chief mentioned for her compatriots to be released, and gave his thanks to the novice decorator for improving the space, telling her they were free. She would lead her impressed coworkers back to the road and south, where they found a NCR checkpoint that night. There the trio would share how they escaped, which the troopers doubted, though the sergeant would hire her to decorate his quarters back in Klamath. The caravanners left the next morning and returned to town that afternoon. Everyone at the caravan office were delighted with the tale and offered Erin a raise, but she declined, having found her passion. Her parents were skeptical of this decision, but she told them she already had another client lined-up.She went to the sergeant's quarters the next day, and was surprised to find an elderly prostitute who greeted her. The older woman was polite and gracious to the embarrassed decorator, showing her around the small bungalow she shared with her trooper. a pile of empty Jet canisters and a broken chandelier would inspire the young decorator, and she combined the two to create mood lighting, as well as filling a glass jar with colorful beads. In addition she also found several shelves at the local salvage store and hung them around, and put various knick-knacks on them. The prostitute and her trooper were impressed by the changes, and gave Erin two-hundred NCR dollars for her work. With the money she had flyers printed and sent with caravans to all directions to advertise her new venture. This resulted in jobs farther south and then east. By 2272 she had been in hovels, raider dens, and mansions from Oregon to Baja and had briefly been part of a minor scandal involving a moderate bureaucrat, and decided to take her passion to the greater wastes. To this end she would join in with a caravan heading to the Mojave, where she became a fixture on the strip, becoming particularly taken with The Tops. She spent the rest of the year here, and left inspired heading east through legion territory, where she found several clients despite the oppressive atmosphere. She was taken prisoner again in 2276 in Central Kansas, and would be unable to decorate her way out, being sold to a brothel. Despite her fear at these developments, she would rearrange her room using the sparse materials available, which impressed the other prostitutes, who offered to cover her first few days if she would decorate their rooms as well. Erin eagerly agreed to this, which attracted the attention of the house madam. She asked Erin why she was always moving things around and never servicing clients. Erin explained the arrangement with the other girls and her unease at being a prostitute, especially since she had had only two partners up to that point. The madam was a reasonable woman and understanding of Erin's situation, and gave her an opportunity to earn her freedom, giving her leave to earn her slave-wage decorating around town. Erin went off with purpose, knocking on every door and bed curtain, finding several clients more amused than truly wanting redecoration. All would be impressed however, and Erin warned her freedom within two months. She headed south from here, enteringOklahoma in the winter of 2277, and be in Texas a month later. Wisely heeding the advice of a caravan, she headed for the Permian Basin arriving in the region by summer. Here she found plenty of interest in herself and her services and spent three years here. She departed Midessa in March of 2280, wanting to see the gulf coast and joined a caravan heading there. She saved the caravan from trouble on the trip, decorating a raider nest and helping tribals arrange a new dance, both of which surprised her companions. Erin arrived in The Corpse Coast in September of that year and found the ocean beautiful, though she hated the grimness of the region. After dodging bullets for a week, she charted a raft to The Big Easy and arrived in The Royaume shortly after. Here she admired the mansions and plantations of the nobles and high officials, and even got her chance to decorate them. The reviews were much less enthusiastic than before however, with several complaining her tastes were too common. Erin tolerated this for a year before tiring of the backhanded comments, and boarding a raft east, stopping briefly at Pentecoastal. She stayed only two days, quickly realizing it wasn't for her. After narrowly avoiding The Orange Bowl, she arrived at Neversink in February of 2822, and was charmed by the art-deco settlement. The poverty of it wouldn't allow for work however, and she continued north. She stopped along Florida and Georgia long the way, not entering South Carolina until mid-2283. She would take time off here, relaxing for several months before continuing north, reaching the Broken Banks in early 2284. She first spent time in Hawke before heading to Elizabeth City, fascinated with the fractious region. Erin is currently preparing for a job in Hertford, hoping to stay for a while. Appearance Erin is an attractive brunette, standing 5'3" and weighing around 120 pounds. She has green eyes and tries to keep her hair in a bob, but pulls it back when it gets long. She is usually dressed in sweaters over a blouse and a skirt, with a pair sneakers on her feet. Personality Erin is a sunny, positive person, friendly to all she meets. She is also very driven, often sketching out several designs when commissioned before deciding on one. While this combination does lead some to consider her an airhead at first, she is actually fairly intelligent, as evidenced by her decorating her way out of several raider dens, and she is quick to see the potential in a given space. Category:Characters Category:Broken Banks